Category: Writing

1. Discuss the benefits and limitations of using a single
textbook as the basis for a course curriculum.
2. Which of the instructional approaches discussed in this
chapter best fits your teaching style? Why? Share your thinking with a
classmate.

If a nearby school district operates magnet schools, visit
one of them. Ask students and faculty what the magnet school is accomplishing
and how it differs from a regular, nonmagnet school. Ask administrators how the
school district defined the school’s goals. Does the school seem to be
successful in meeting these goals? Do you think you would enjoy working there?
Why or why not?

Interview teachers in nearby elementary schools to determine
whether they are using or considering inclusion arrangements.What are their
attitudes toward inclusion? What can you learn from them that may be useful in
your own career?

1. What are some major goals and components of multicultural
education? What can teachers in predominantly nonminority schools do to advance
its goals?
2. how can you help your students who are included, fully or
partially, in regular classrooms?

1. What actions and policies are most important in bringing
about successful desegregation? In what situations is it most difficult to
implement desegregation effectively?
2. Why is compensatory education an important national
issue? What approaches are most promising for improving the achievement of
low-income students?

1. To what extent would you be willing to contact parents of
low-achieving students when you become a teacher? Do you think this should be
part of the classroom teacher’s responsibilities?
2. interview someone from a low-income background who has
been successful in the educational system.To what does he or she attribute this
success? What special obstacles did the person encounter, and how were they
overcome?

Write a description of the “regularities” of schooling as
you remember them at the high school you attended. Compare your description
with those of your classmates. Do these patterns seem to vary much from one
school to another? If so, how?

1. In your experience, which types of students are most
popular? Do you believe that popularity patterns have changed much in recent
decades? If so, why?
2. What might the schools do to alleviate problems of drug
use, violence, and teenage pregnancy? What should they do? Do you believe the
“might” and “should” are different? Why or why not?

1. How do adolescents’ socialization experiences differ in
urban and rural communities? Are such differences declining over time, and if
so, why?
2. How does “schooling” differ from “education”? As a
prospective teacher, what implications do you see in this line of analysis?

Survey several nearby school districts regarding their
policies on student and teacher dress codes. Find out whether and how these
policies have changed in the past ten or fifteen years. Do you expect to see
further changes in the near future?